January 30th marked the 95th anniversary of the murders of the Grand Dukes Paul Alexandrovich, Dmitry Konstantinovich, and brothers Nicholas and George Mikhailovich at the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg. Last Thursday, about 100 monarchists and Orthodox faithful gathered at the Peter and Paul Cathedral where a requiem was held for the four grand dukes. The requiem was led by Archimandrite Alexander Fedorov, and assisted by the rector of the Leushinsky Monastery in St. Petersburg Archpriest Gennady Belovolov.

The grand dukes were among 17 members of the Romanov family murdered by the Bolsheviks in 1918-19, the last four taking place in St. Petersburg. The Peter and Paul Fortress, which was built by Peter the Great to protect the capital of Russia, became the place of execution of four Romanov grand dukes. They were shot together, along with other citizens of St. Petersburg, an act of revenge by the new government for the death of two revolutionaries in Germany, Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht.

In 1981, the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad glorified the new martyrs and confessors of all members of the House of Romanov, murdered in 1918-19. This honour, however, was denied Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich, the reason being that the grand duke had been "a socialist, an atheist, and a Mason."

The black-yellow-and-white tricolour flag was the official national flag of the Russian Empire from 1858 to 1883. In 1858, Alexander II ordered for the black-yellow-white flag to be used during celebrations. In 1865, the emperor issued a decree naming black orange (later “golden yellow”), and white as the state colours of Russia. Today, the flag is being used by Russian Nationalists and Monarchists. It is such a shame that a proud symbol of Imperial Russia has created so much negative media attention today - Paul Gilbert

A bill aimed at officially designating the imperial Russian flag a historical symbol has irked a number of deputies in the St. Petersburg legislative assembly, who say that the legislation is poorly crafted and potentially threatening to neighbouring countries.

The black-yellow-and-white tricolour flag was first introduced by Tsar Alexander II in 1858, but has been widely adopted by nationalist movements since the end of the 20th century.

United Russia's Vitaly Milonov, who introduced the bill to the assembly, said that the flag needs “to be cleared of its negative extremist symbolism” in order “to allow football fans to quietly carry it without being accused of extremism,” Regnum news agency reported Wednesday.

“We are not talking about forbidding anyone from using this flag, but it should not be a simple piece of cloth that can be thrown in a puddle,” Milonov said, Fontanka.ru reported.

Members of the Yabloko and A Just Russia parties were quick to criticize the proposal.

A Just Russia's Alexei Kovalev said the bill was a prime example of unprofessional legislation, and one that would surely sour the reputation of the assembly.

“It was this flag that became a symbol of the most notorious nationalist organizations, analogous to those, which are now fighting on” Independence Square in Kiev, Kovalev said, “Under this flag people are killed, it has become a symbol of extremism. Why should we make a political gesture today and support this symbol of extremism?”

The assembly's speaker, Vyacheslav Makarov, himself a member of United Russia, repeatedly turned off the podium's microphone during Kovalev's speech.

Another A Just Russia lawmaker, Marina Shishkina, said that much of the bill's explanatory note had been taken from the flag's Wikipedia page. About two-thirds of the article had been used, conspicuously leaving out the final paragraph detailing the flag's contemporary popularity among fascist-leaning nationalist parties.

Yabloko's Alexander Kobrinsky said that granting historical status to the flag would send an unmistakable message to Russia's neighbors that it was rediscovering its imperial ambitions.

Milonov, who coauthored the city's anti-gay legislation, refuted the suggestion and said Kobrinsky feared the revival of Russia as "a Great Power." "You want us to remain an uncrowned chicken,” Milonov said. At this point, Makarov once again shut off the podium's microphone, thereby ending the floor debate.

In the end, the draft legislation passed with 27 in favour, and 13 against. Deputies have three weeks to amend the bill before deliberating on the final version.

The following article was originally published in the January 30th, 2014 edition of The International Business Times. The author Lydia Smith owns the copyright presented below.

Divers have begun searching for a £50 billion stash of royal gold in Lake Baikal, the world's oldest and deepest lake located in southeastern Siberia.

Kolchak's Gold, named after the commander of the Imperial Russia Navy Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak, is thought to have spilled into the lake around 100 years ago.

The gold is a significant portion of the Russian Empire's gold reserve, which came into the possession of Admiral Kolchak during the Civil War. Originally contained in Petrograd, now known as St Petersburg, the treasure was moved to the city of Kazan over fears the city may be occupied by German troops in 1915.

By mid-1918, the State Bank's vaults in Kazan contained over half of Russia's gold reserves. After a short while, the bullion was moved again by the Bolsheviks, who only managed to ship around 100 boxes of the treasure.

In August 1918, the city of Kazan was seized by the Czechoslovakian Legion, along with sections of the Komuch People's Army, an anti-Bolshevik movement during the Civil War.

The gold was brought to the State Bank's Omsk branch later that year. One month afterwards, Admiral Kolchak was declared Supreme Ruler of Russia and from then, the bullion was known as "Kolchak's gold".

The gold comprised coins and ignots, which was valued at around 645.4 million rubles in total. German marks, Spanish alfones, British sovereigns, American dollars, French francs, Chilean condors, Japanese yen and Greek drachmas were found in the hoard.

Where the treasure lies now is still a mystery, however. Divers are investigating Lake Baikal over rumours the gold was buried deep in the sediment after a train derailed into the water.

Another theory suggests troops belonging to the White faction in the Civil War were carrying the gold across the lake, but perished as the temperatures dropped to minus 60C. The gold is said to have sunk to the bottom of the lake in Spring, when the ice melted.

According to another, the gold remains in two sites. One half is hidden in the tangled passages underneath the city of Omsk, where Kolchak's main office was located. The other half is believed to be stashed in Zakhlamino, a nearby village.

Local folklore in the region of Krasnoyarsk, near the Yenisei River, suggests the gold is hidden in a mysterious graveyard where 500 White soldiers are thought to be buried.

For more information on the search for Kolchak's gold, please refer to the following article;

If you enjoy Royal Russia, and would like to help keep this web site growing, please consider purchasing one (or more) of the products listed in our NEW online catalogue for yourself, friends or family. All proceeds help offset the cost of maintaining Royal Russia. Your purchase also helps cover the costs of translating full-length articles and news articles from Russian (and other languages) into English. There certainly is no obligation; this is merely a request for you to help keep the memories of old Russia alive by supporting this web site and blog.

Dave Smith writes in The Copenhagen Post about the strong ties between Denmark and Russia for more than half a millennium. He writes about the 1116 union of Knud Lavard and Ingeborg of Kiev, a Russian princess who would go on to mother one of Denmark’s most noteworthy Danish monarchs, Valdemar the Great, who would in turn go on to take a Russian bride himself, Sofia of Minsk, in 1157, and the marriage of Princess Dagmar to the future Emperor Alexander III in 1866.

There survive some 100 letters and cards written by the Grand Duchess Elizabeth to Nicholas II. They were all written in English, although the Grand Duchess sometimes uses expressions in Russian, French or German. In the extracts selected below, originally published in the Russian journal Istochnik No 4, 1994, all Russian words have been translated into English and here appear in italics. Expressions in other languages are translated in brackets after them.

Don’t miss a single issue of Royal Russia! Build your collection of our popular magazine by taking advantage of our new Standing Order service. It’s a convenient, no hassle service which ensures uninterrupted delivery of Royal Russia to your door twice a year, plus the service is free!

Since launching Royal Russia back in 2011, I have often been asked about subscriptions, however, our official magazine is not available through subscription. Instead, I am pleased to now offer the convenience of a Standing Order for all future issues of our popular magazine. Despite its name, there will be two issues published each year (a Summer Annual and a Winter Annual).

New Standing Orders will commence with the NO. 5 - WINTER 2014 issue, available FEBRUARY 2014.

A standing order means that you will receive each new issue of Royal Russia automatically, saving you the time of ordering each issue individually. This ensures that you don't miss a single issue. Plus, standing orders will be packed and shipped first!

Your credit card will be charged the amount of $20.00 + postage twice a year. There is no obligation and you can cancel your standing order at any time.

For those of you who are interested in taking advantage of this service, please download, print and complete the *Standing Order Form and return it to my attention by mail, or scan the completed form and email it to my attention at royalrussia@yahoo.com.

*Click on the link at the top of this listing to download and print a copy of the Standing Order Form

Please NOTE that the credit card companies require that the standing order form must be signed and dated by you. This is why it is IMPORTANT to complete and sign the attachment form.

Important: Your privacy is important to us. Your name, address, telephone number, email address and credit card details will never be shared, distributed or sold to any person or company.

For more information on Royal Russia Annuals, please visit our web site;

The wooden travelling palace of Peter the Great situated along the Peterhof Highway, not far from the Konstantin Palace at Strelna

In 1710 Peter the Great ordered to build an estate at the Strelin Farmstead (now Strelna). It was here that the tsar originally intended to create a grandiose palace and park ensemble to rival that of Versailles. Problems with the local terrain, however, forced him to abandon these plans and move further down the coast where he constructed the Grand Palace and park at Peterhof.

The estate was constructed in 1711-17, and consisted of a small palace, a church, hothouses, vegetable gardens, an apiary and nurseries. The wooden palace, designed by Jean-Baptiste Le Blond, was designed as a travelling palace for its use by Peter (and later by Elizabeth Petrovna and Catherine the Great) for rest on the way from St. Petersburg to Peterhof and Kronstadt.

The Palace of Peter the Great includes a central two-storey building with two attached wings. The palace is adorned by a six-column portico supporting a balcony and lending the building an imposing view overlooking the Gulf of Finland.

The original palace consisted of two halls and eight rooms. In 1749-50 the architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli reconstructed the palace. In 1786 the former imperial residence came into the possession of the War Ministry and was used to house a military hospital. In 1837-39 the architect Christian Meyer reconstructed the palace. From the 19th century it was used as a hospital up until the Second World War.

During World War II the wooden palace of Peter the Great at Strelna suffered extensive damage resulting in many of the original architectural elements being lost. It was reconstructed in the 1950s and used as a kindergarten and nursery. In 1987 the estate became a branch of the Peterhof State Museum-Preserve and restoration work began there. The lost details of the decor of the building were restored, its overall layout was recreated and twelve of its interiors were redecorated. In the summer of 1999 the Palace-Museum of Peter the Great opened its doors to visitors.

Today there is a permanent display on the ground floor that recreates the interiors of the 18th and 19th centuries. During my last visit to the palace about 10 years ago, the museum also included a permanent exhibition on the Konstantinovichi branch of the Romanov dynasty, who owned the magnificent Konstantin Palace at Strelna nearby. In 1797, Strelna was granted to Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich (second son of Paul I) and his wife Grand Duchess Anna Feodorovna. After Konstantin's death in 1831, the palace passed to his nephew, Grand Duke Konstantin Nicholayevich (second son of Emperor Nicholas I). The Konstantinovichi branch retained ownership of the Konstantin Palace up until the Revolution, the last owner being Grand Duke Dmitri Konstantinovich (1860-1919).

As part of the Russian-Austrian Cultural Season the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna presents the work of Carl Fabergé, probably Russia’s leading and most influential jeweller and goldsmith at the turn of the 20th century.

The name Fabergé conjures up exceptional creations, virtuoso craftsmanship that combines outstanding artistic and technical skill with the finest materials. This is particularly true of the work produced by Peter Carl Fabergé following his appointment as court jeweller to the last Russian Tsar in 1885. Under him the House of Fabergé grew into one of the largest contemporary jewellery companies, at times employing over five hundred goldsmiths, stone cutters and jewellers from different countries. The company worked for the imperial Russian court and other European dynasties, for the nobility, plutocrats and financial magnates, but they also produced less exalted work designed for the Russian bourgeoisie.

Over 160 loans from the Kremlin Museums and the Fersman Mineralogical Museum in Moscow showcase Fabergé’s virtuosity, placing him in the context of contemporary Russian goldsmith work; another focus is the role of the imperial family. Four Imperial Easter eggs form the centre of the show - precious objets d’art commissioned by the Imperial family that frequently contain a world en miniature, a microcosm. Other artefacts that once belonged to members of the House of Romanov, treasured possessions that stayed with them until their final days, offer fascinating insights into life, both private and ceremonial, at the imperial court. We also showcase hardstone carvings by Fabergé and the imperial manufactories at Petergof and Yekaterinburg, documenting the continued popularity in late-nineteencentury Russia of an art form closely connected with Kunstkammer collections.

And, last but not least, Fabergé’s multi-facetted oeuvre is juxtaposed with the work of other Russian imperial jewellers such as Bolin, Carl Blank, Pavel Ovchinnikov or Ivan Khlebnikov, inviting visitors to enjoy and appreciate the outstanding technical and artistic virtuosity of late-nineteenth-century Russian jewellers, first celebrated in 1873 at the World Fair in Vienna.

The World of Fabergé opens at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna on February 18th and runs to May 18th, 2014.

The Peacock Clock is large automaton featuring three life-sized mechanical birds. It was manufactured by the entrepreneur James Cox in the 2nd half of the 18th century and through the influence of Grigory Potemkin it was acquired by Catherine the Great in 1781. Today it is a prominent exhibit in the collections of the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg.

Click on the to read a full length article about the history, construction and maintenance of Catherine the Great's elaborate clock in the Winter Palace.